# Frontispiece explained — How the Other Half Lives

> Chapter companion for How the Other Half Lives by Jacob Riis.

## What happens

The frontispiece introduces Gotham Court, a notorious tenement building that symbolizes the squalid living conditions and social decay of New York's slums.

## Themes in this chapter

### Tenement Life and Housing

Gotham Court exemplifies the cramped, unhealthy tenement housing that characterized poor urban neighborhoods.

## Key lines

> Gotham Court.

The image or reference to Gotham Court highlights the deplorable state of tenement housing in New York.

_The frontispiece sets the stage for exploring the tenement system._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters/frontispiece
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/how_the_other_half_lives_se/chapters